Assessment and grading in different systems

By selecting a degree programme you are able to see the general content as well as the possible degree programme-specific content.

Studies completed by students are evaluated in Sisu, Examinarium or Moodle, depending on the platform and evaluation method you use. This page contains general instructions for evaluation and grading in the various systems, links to detailed technical instructions, and information on guidelines related to evaluation and grading. 

For support in the planning of teaching and evaluation, please see the instructions available at How to plan assessment

Further information on grading scales can be found on the website Grading criteria and principles.   

Instructions for determining the language of study are available on the website featuring the language policy for completing degrees and studies.  

Assessment and grading in Sisu

On the My Teaching tab in Sisu, you can view information on teaching for which you are indicated as the teacher or coordinator. Lecture series, seminar work and other teaching sessions are known in Sisu as implementations. Your teaching is an implementation of a course which is, on a broader level, part of a degree programme curriculum

When planning your teaching, you must be familiar with the course syllabus and the degree programme curriculum to be able to connect your teaching to the wider framework. Similarly, assessment is always based on the learning outcomes set for the course and defined in the curriculum. Read more about the assessment of learning and knowledge. 

Courses may have different completion methods that can be divided into parts. For example, students may be required to complete a lecture-based course and write an essay to earn the course credits. Students can view the different course completion methods when registering for the course in Sisu. 

Illustrated user instructions for the assessment of completed studies in Sisu

Quick guide for assessment 

  1. Select the implementation (course or examination) to be evaluated in Sisu under My Teaching > Assessment.  
  2. Record the grades and enter the necessary additional information as well as written feedback if relevant. You can record information one student at a time or select the Bulk edit information feature to record the same information for several students at once.
  3. Confirm the assessments on the Review and confirm tab. 

Immediately after being confirmed, the credits will be displayed to students as partially completed. The information will automatically change overnight so that the credits appear as fully completed. When students have completed all the credits required for a course, the credits will not appear as fully completed in the study plan until the day after the assessments have been confirmed.

You cannot change grades once you have confirmed them. If you notice erroneous information when recording an assessment, please contact the University’s assessment support services (assessment@helsinki.fi). Please do not confirm assessments before the error has been corrected.   

Importing assessments into Sisu using an Excel file  

You can import grades into Sisu using an Excel file. Technical details are available in the Sisu user instructions

Assessment and grading in Examinarium and Moodle

You can also evaluate students’ studies in Moodle or Examinarium if you have used them in teaching.   

Examinarium examinations provide a good platform for individual examinations or end-of-course examinations that can be taken on a date freely chosen by the student.  In Examinarium, the evaluation feature opens when a student has completed an examination and sent it for evaluation. Grades are moved automatically from Examinarium to Sisu, and they do not need to be separately verified in Sisu. Instructions for evaluation can be found in the Examinarium user instructions.  

Moodle is suited to assessing courses or digital examinations for which you use a specific Moodle area. When the Moodle area has been created on the course pages and the grade to be exported to Sisu can be seen in the Course summary column under Grades in Moodle, you can export grades directly from Moodle to Sisu. If the grade is in another column under Grades, you can use the Excel file available from Moodle, and copy and paste the information in the file to the Sisu converter SIMU. You can also always enter grades directly in Sisu. Confirmation is required for authentication purposes.  

On the My teaching tab in Sisu, you can view information on the implementations (courses and examinations) for which you are indicated as the teacher or coordinator. Under the implementations, you can find detailed information on your teaching as well as the Assessment tab, where the grades have been transferred from Moodle. You can confirm grades on the Review and confirm tab. Information on the grades and the grade distribution is then made available to students in Sisu. The same information is also automatically transferred to the course pages.  

Detailed instructions for using the Moodle gradebook can be found in the Moodle Docs: Grades.

Resitting a course or examination and raising a grade

Resitting a failed course or examination 

If a student receives a failing grade for a course or examination, the grade is registered normally in Sisu, Examinarium or Moodle. If a student resits a failed course or examination and receives a passing grade, this will automatically replace the failing grade when you enter the new grade and confirm it. If the resit takes place through a separate implementation (e.g., a resit examination), the raised grade does not need to be entered for the original implementation, but rather you can use the assessment page of the resit examination.   

Resitting a passed course or examination 

Students can attempt to raise the grade of completed studies no more than twice. They can attempt to raise the grade of an examination related to a lecture course twice if two resit opportunities are associated with it. If an examination related to a lecture course only has one resit opportunity, students have one opportunity to attempt to raise the grade. However, this possibility does not apply to a thesis for a first-cycle (bachelor’s) or a second-cycle (master’s) degree, or to a doctoral thesis. If students wish to raise the grade of written studies, such as a written project, essay or learning journal, a significant part of it must be rewritten or it must be written on an entirely new topic.  

A resit associated with a passing grade is usually evaluated through a separate implementation. In such cases, the student registers separately in Sisu, for example, for a general examination session, which is assessed as a separate implementation. If you cannot find the resit and assessment page under My teaching, please contact the planning officer responsible for the degree programme. Contact details can be found here.

Sisu user instructions for raising or rectifying the grade of assessed studies

Independent work

Students can select independent work as the course completion method if this has been documented in the curriculum. A separate implementation must be created in Sisu for independent work, which students can add to their study plan and register for in the same way as for courses or examinations. If you evaluate independent work, remind the student to register in Sisu. When the student has completed the work, you can find the implementation in Sisu under My Teaching and can evaluate it in the same way you evaluate courses or examinations.

Separate registration

If you evaluate activities for which students do not register in Sisu (e.g., maturity tests or traineeships), the evaluation entry is registered separately in Sisu by the University’s assessment support staff.  

Studies for doctoral researchers usually include many activities that require separate registration (e.g., conferences, research visits and publications). In doctoral education, such activities must, as a rule, be agreed in advance with the supervisor or coordinating academic. Once the activities have been completed, doctoral researchers must pre-complete the relevant registration form and submit it, together with any attachments, to their supervisor or coordinating academic for approval. Instructions and forms for doctoral researchers are available on the Instructions for Students website. When you receive a pre-completed form, assess the studies and check that the form contains all the information required for separate recording. Then send the form to the University’s assessment support services (see email address below).

Send the completed studies requiring separate recording as well as the information set out below by email to assessment@helsinki.fi. The credits will be registered in Sisu within one month.

Information required for the separate recording of completed studies:

  • Course name and code
  • Credits
  • Student’s name and student number
  • Grade
  • Language of learning
  • Date of completion (i.e., date of the final examination, test or other method of completion)
  • Any additional information (in Finnish, Swedish and English). Please note that the additional information will appear on the student’s transcript of studies. Consequently, you should only provide essential information, if any, and do so briefly and clearly. 
  • Assessing teacher(s)

NB! No separate registration request need be submitted for theses assessed in E-thesis. Detailed instructions for thesis assessment can be found in the E-thesis instructions for examiners.

Publication of results and appeals

As a teacher, you must assess completed studies well before the next opportunity to complete or register for them, but not later than within one month from the date of completion. If you confirm assessments in Sisu within one month from the date of completion, you do not need to notify students of the results and grade distribution separately. If you notify students of the results separately, please note that you cannot publish a results list that includes information identifying an individual student (e.g., the student’s name or student number). For details, please see the website Regulations regarding grading and examinations.   

Students can view their course or examination grade in Sisu on the day after the grade is confirmed. When you have confirmed the assessment, the credits will be immediately displayed to students as partially completed. The information will automatically change overnight so that the courses appear as fully completed. If this does not happen for any reason, please ask the student to contact Student Services. If a course is divided into separate components in Sisu, students must complete all of them for the course to be recorded as fully completed.

Students will be able to access the grade distribution of the course or examination on the course pages.

If a student expresses dissatisfaction with their grade, please see the instructions on the appeal procedure: Appeal procedure for students dissatisfied with grading.

Rectification of assessment information

You cannot request that completed or recognised credits be removed from student records, but erroneous information can be rectified. If you find an error in a confirmed grade or if a grade must otherwise be rectified, please contact the University’s assessment support services at assessment@helsinki.fi.  

Supplementation of studies

If necessary, students can supplement previously completed studies using custom course credits. Such a procedure can be used only in exceptional circumstances when a student must supplement a completed course or module so as to meet the learning outcomes set in the degree programme curriculum. The supplementation requirement may be applied to, for example, transfer students or students who have transferred from the old degree requirements to a new degree programme, or in cases where the curriculum period changes during studies. Students agree on custom course credits with the course or module coordinator and submit an application in Sisu. 

Detailed instructions on the custom course credit process and assessment

Compilation of a study module

Study modules do not need to be evaluated separately if their content is based on the degree structure. The content of a study module requires the coordinator’s review only if a student wishes to deviate from the degree programme structure or if the module otherwise requires separate approval. Students apply through their Sisu study plan for the right to do so. Student Services requests a module assessment from the teacher by email. 

The study modules of undergraduate students are usually compiled by academic administration staff in connection with graduation, unless the students wish to have a module graded before completing their degree. 

As a rule, study modules required for a doctoral degree must be compiled before the preliminary examination of a doctoral thesis is initiated or no later than when the decision on whether to grant the doctoral student permission to defend their thesis at a public examination is made.

Support for assessment

If you have questions about assessment or the use of various assessment systems, you can contact the University’s assessment support services at assessment@helsinki.fi.  

Sisu-tutors are counselling teachers on Zoom on Tuesdays at 13-14 and on Wednesdays at 11-13.

For pedagogical support for planning assessment, please contact the support service of the Centre for University Teaching and Learning (HYPE): info-hype@helsinki.fi.

In the online Digipeda Café experts answer teachers' questions about digital pedagogy, educational technology and continuous learning. More information in the Flamma-article.

 

See also the Instructions for Students

You will find related content for students in the Studies Service.